Category: self improvement

We do a lot of things for many people. The higher we grow, the more we do. If we do our job well, we often find ourselves with more and more people attaching their projects to our time and less time for us to have to ourselves. It is all right to do well for others as long as you take care of #21. I have to ask you today, are you taking care of #21?

Granted, #21 is not at the front of the pack. Usually doesn’t get all the limelight deserved. And can often get lost in the stampede to get things done. Yet, the team would not be a whole one without this valuable player.

When you’re checking your roster of contributors and lineup of required actions, be sure to look out for the little guy. Ensure that even #21 is given a calculated blend of playing time, training time, and time for recuperation. The balance is essential because without the correct balance you will not get your best performance.

Thank you for being here with me and allowing me a little play on words. This blog contains a puzzle, and in solving it, please tell me a little bit more about #21 in the comments section. I’m not sure where everybody is reading this from. I do know where #21 lives. #21 lives within our hearts.

I hope to be with you again soon, in the meantime don’t forget to take care of #21.

We are collectors. As we go through life, our hunter and gather her genes live strong within us. And as we settled down into a regular life with the domicile we stay in for more extended periods of time, we start to feel crowded out by all those things we’ve hunted and gathered.

When this crowding starts to happen, we must convert to givers and re-taskers. If we keep absolutely everything we’ve ever gained in life, the house starts belonging to the stuff, and we find ourselves crowded into a corner. And that is a shame because getting your house in your domestic life back is actually easy to do.

Don’t feel alone or ashamed about having to take back your house from everything you’ve collected. I had to do that myself about a year ago. Gather everything that belongs in a particular room into that room. Yes, this will cause a bit of a mess and stacking to start with.

Once you have everything that belongs in the room, in the room, pick up one thing. It can be anything it doesn’t matter just pick up something. Ask yourself a question or two. Do I need this? Do I want this? Why could I not live without this? If you convince yourself to keep it, you have to find a place for it. Nothing that belongs in the room can go to any other room just for the sake of cleaning the room. If you want the item need it, you have to find a proper place. The things you either do not want, do not need or do not have a place to keep, need to be given away or disposed of. The first few are the hardest. Once you get through the first few, you will find it is easier than you think.

Many people like to hold yard sales. I donate to places like Goodwill or DAV because it allows the item to be reused, recycled, and the money it earns helps those who could use a hand. The joke I have with my local Goodwill is that I drop the goods off at the back door and then drive around to the front and go inside to see what I want to buy back.

I like to keep things which other people have given me. When I look at them or use them, it reminds me of the person. I still can’t keep everything, yet the things I keep mean something.

I want to thank everyone here with us again today. I especially want to take a moment at this time to thank everyone who has commented, liked and shared our blog posts in the last few weeks. I thank you very much. I appreciate you being here with us.

The new course meshes nicely with the life coaching services I offer, focusing on Life Stage Transition and Motivation. I also have a course giving some ideas of how technology will shape employment in the future. And a course on how to be Always Hirable.

If you wish to know more about these exciting activities and how to join the fun, please reply in the comments section and send me a way to contact you. Or send me an email to mikeb@reveille.rocks.

Ever watch kids grow? They learn something new every day. They are excited about it. When they first learn they feel that there’s something that they have learned, which no one else may know about. And they go out to tell everyone.

As they grow, the young learners find out that although what they learned was new to them, it was already well-known by many others. They start to doubt the remarkable vision of the vast world before them. And, as they grow older, they slow in their learning of new things.

The slowing of their learning is not because of a lack of wondrous new things to learn. It is because they are inundated by so much. Also, because they don’t want to look awkward or uninformed by trying to master new skills.

The difference between the third-grader and a mature adult is the ego. In children that ego is not yet developed. In mature adults, the ego is formed, and the ego is also very fragile. Because of the delicate ego, adults are less inclined to try things they know little about.

As I have grown, I have grown out of the belief I know everything about everything. The higher I have gone in education, the more I realize there is an entire universe out there, and then some, of things I know nothing about. And that is okay, because I am curious and interested, and I don’t mind looking the fool if it means I can ask questions and learn new things.

I encourage everyone to reach out and be curious. Learn something new. Do not worry about how others perceive you. Just have fun and feel good about yourself.

If you see me being foolish, that is all right. Just figure it is because I am learning something new.

Ever wish you had more luck? Ever hope that things would go your way? Ever dream you could just find that edge? The truth is, you can. It is just that the actions to get there are more straightforward and more accessible than you think.

I worked with a great Boy Scout troop in California once. We would go on about three camporees a year where the troops would participate in a set of games to show their camping skills. It was always a lot of fun.

About two weeks before the Camporee, our troop would have a campout of its own. Everyone would train on the skills that would be tested during the jamboree. This was an excellent sharing of knowledge and helped the scouts to know and understand what they were doing. Because of this, our scouts would almost always place well in the competition. I don’t believe it is because they were smarter, or better than any of the other kids. I believe it was merely the fact that they had explored those skills and the best practices to actually make the skills work.

This is a fantastic set of actions I think we can all learn from. If we want something in life, we should explore it. Understanding and knowledge can always go far. I remember once a veteran telling me about a time he was on a field exercise. He was a very young soldier newly enlisted in just through technical school, and he was driving a deuce and a half on the exercise.

During a stop, he was little bored, and he was reading the information plate on the inside edge of the door to the driver’s cab. He closed the door, and within a couple of minutes a general came by and talked to him. Because he had just read the plate from the door, he could tell the General that he was driving a fantastic truck that could do haul up to so many pounds, the type of drivetrain, and even that the tires were self-inflating. The general was very impressed and shook the soldier’s hand before walking on.

I am not sure I would go out of my way to look for luck. There are many positive experiences all around us. Rather than grasping at the intangibles that seem to continually evade us, be curious. Explore things that you want to be known for and share that knowledge freely. For that is when the intangibles will come.

Last week after writing to you about the need to take care of ourselves in about my Meniere’s, believe it or not, I got sick that very same afternoon. In it did it presented is Meniere’s severe vertigo and all.

After getting back home, I spent the rest the weekend rest and recuperation. Along with the Meniere’s, I was also fighting high blood pressure. I started reading articles about what successful people do and what leaders do with their morning routine.

I even started doing those things myself. By Friday I felt better. My blood pressure was lower, and the dizziness was gone. What did I do? I made some rules.

Rule one: bedtime is bedtime, not a time to read, and not the time to watch all the shows I cannot view during the day. Not the time to write or plan. I will do all that in the morning.

Rule two: I get up an hour later than I used to in the morning. Instead of five, I get up at six. I always get up at the same time every day.

Rule three: I immediately make my bed. I remember my mom always makes her bed when she gets up in the morning, and she is a person who gets things done. It gives each of us the first accomplishment of the day. And it sets the boundary between sleep and a new day.

Rule four: I take time to be grateful. I am thankful for all that I have been given, and all I have been allowed to accomplish.

Rule five: I take time to plan. I review what I have to do today and what I want to do today. I plan out both ongoing and significant accomplishments to be done, and the todos, which when done makes life better.

Rule Six: Showering and grooming help to make everyone feel better and can both soothe the and energize for the day ahead.

Rule seven: I enjoy a good breakfast with both carb and protein, and not overdoing it, fuels the body. And, proper hydration keeps everything afloat.

I am not saying that my rules are right for everyone. I just know that since I started following them, I have felt better and grown stronger.

Like this:

Thank you for being with me today I don’t know where you are. Here it is beautiful, sunny, with clear skies.

My question today is a simple one, “are you taking care of yourself?”

When we are younger, our parents take care of us. As we grow a little, we find ourselves taking care of our kids. And, as we get a little bit older, we find our kids taking care of us. This must be one of those universal cycles. And, as is true in life, we always look out to help and take care of our family, our neighbor, and those we see who are in need of help. So my question stands, “are we taking time to take care of ourselves?”

I ask this because if we don’t take the time, and we don’t listen to our bodies, the bodies have a way of speaking louder, to a point where we cannot ignore them. It is much easier to take care of a whisper than it is to fix a body when it is screaming at you.

I have been there, and I have done this myself to an extent, so I understand. With everything we have these days and very busy lives, we seem to be continuously running the race for others and saving time by ignoring our needs.

This is just one man’s opinion; however, with all the communication software we have on the market today, we can stay in contact with everyone for very little or no cost. Tie that into calendar systems which will keep track of each of your events, appointments, and meetings. The next thing you know, you have a system of organization.

The next thing you need to do to set up your calendar from the inside out. Start with you, and start with seven hours of sleep minimum, eight hours is even better. Lunchtime is the time to get out from behind The desk or off the construction line. Eat something and look around a little. Taking this respite from work is needed. Your work for the rest of the day will far eclipse anything you could’ve gotten done over lunch.

When you set this up, be sure not to sink the whole program by scheduling your ‘me time,’ at the same time somebody else needs your help whether it is kid’s soccer, your spouse’s ‘me time’ or other events you also need to pay attention to.

This is something each of us has to do for ourselves. And like everything else, it will take time and practice to get it right. The neat thing is it is something everyone can succeed at when we work at it. You succeed for your children, you succeed for your parents, you succeed for your spouse, and now, you can also succeed for you.